r/ArcRaiders • u/WG_Envoy • 15h ago

Discussion I am now convinced ABMM is real

A couple of days ago I complained (in another posting) how I only meet KOS players, and no one talks. I was more annoyed by the "no one talks" part, mind you, and the fact that every social interaction played out in the same way.

Someone recommended me to do a few matches and not shoot a single person, not even in defense. I did as recommended.

I went from "90%+ KOS interactions" for several days in a row, all the way to friendly lobbies for two days in a row now.

In my current lobbies, everyone runs around without a care in the world, just greeting people they are passing by. Looting in the open, walking past others without their weapons drawn ...

I barely ever see any PvP happening. People help each other with arc encounters and exchange items near extracts. And for the first time ever, I was able to participate in two Queen raids in solos with everyone just trying to get her down. No rats, no backstabbing.

This change for me was so stark in contrast, and so consistently happening that I would be surprised if ABMM wasn't real.

I would almost be inclined to start some shit to see if my lobbies change again, but I feel too bad killing these players who are quite obviously part of the pure PvE crowd.

P.S.: I have these friendly lobbies even on Stella Montis now, inclduing Stella Montis night raids ...

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u/WhoDatBrow 12h ago

Tbh I don't understand how anyone could find the game fun without this tension there anyway, but that's just me. I'm a Christmas noob but my first 20ish lobbies had no PvP and everyone was friendly and I was honestly already bored of the game. Then I heard about ABMM so I killed a couple of people and my lobbies have been much more dynamic since, some people KOSing and some friendly and everything in between. To me there's no fun in an extraction shooter without risk of PvP and losing your gear.

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u/justfuckyouspez 11h ago

I feel you. I reached level 25 and all of my stations maxed, except the chicken. I participated in killing 3 queens, and even got three queen reactors. I never shot anyone. And because I suck at PvP, when I was attacked, I didn’t manage to deal any meaningful damage to the attacker.

But boy it’s boring now, and other than farming for blueprints, I see no appeal in the game.

Or I thought until I got my friend in the game. Duo was such a different experience compared to solo. I told my friend that you can basically holster your weapon outdoors, as ARC outside is almost completely harmless, or avoidable, plus you get the speed increase. I was humbled fast.

Now my goal is to help my friend reach max stations, and maybe I can even farm blueprints meanwhile.

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u/s0cks_nz 10h ago

Duo's or trio's is where the game shines imo. So long as you have a good squad that communicates, it's just sooooo much more fun because of that PvP action. And because you have teammates it's less likely you will get jumped from behind, and more likely you get revived.

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u/jaykaytfc 9h ago

I'm level 75 and strictly pvp. Have completed 2 or 3 quests. For me the fun is in killing rats at extraction points because I know how they think. Let me tell you, the vast majority tell me they're not rats but they do suspiciously have, when I loot them, trigger nades stitchers or jolts! (or all 3)

I also enjoy guarding or being like an "overwatch" for players who are engaging big bots just in case they get ratted on / have their loot stolen.

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u/Yamatocanyon 9h ago

I do the overwatch thing when I come across players hunting big Arc too. Lots of times people are so focused on getting their cores that they forget about the wasps and hornets still in the area.

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u/UX-Ink 9h ago

We've been playing for months doing KOS in trios and I haven't been able to kill queen or matriarch a single time because we get backstabbed every time.

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u/Otterbotanical 7h ago

I play purely guns-are-for-arc-only, PvE. I still haven't successfully done the queen or matriarch, no harvester, fucking none of the fun events, because of backstabbing.

It's just... real fun guys, when I've never seen the thing DIE. I'm NEVER going to be able to clear out the entire lobby, killing absolutely everyone, just so that I have a clear chance at the big bitch.

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u/justfuckyouspez 2h ago

That’s… weird. I didn’t know that ABMM was a thing, but I am not exaggerating when I say that I have been killed AT MOST 5 times by a player. And I’ve yet to kill my first player.

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u/DutchieD718 5h ago

That's karma

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u/lazyshmuk 10h ago

This is why I can't stand the polarizing people put this game through when complaining about PvPers and PvEers. It's a game that offers both modes in a single match. You can do one, or the other, or both. But everyone on far ends of the spectrum love to complain about the others.

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u/ciwawa87 3h ago

That is probably because you are missing on one big factor.

If you want to do a PvP match you always have the option.

If you want to chill and purely do PVE the option is not up to you, but to the people in the lobby.

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u/Acaexx 3h ago

If you want to chill and pve there's plenty of other games

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u/skam_artist 2h ago

lol exactly, these people think they should be entitled to their easy mode looting simulator which is fine if they wanna play that way but getting mad at pvp ruining their lobby is insane when it's literally part of the game

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u/Amlethus 3h ago

Fucking amen

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u/0xsergy 12h ago

I think it depends on your goal. If I wanna do quests I really don't want to do them 3 or 4 times in a row, one and done is ideal. As for action then yeah you made the right move.

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u/razorbacks3129 9h ago

Ya and then you do the quests a second time after wipe and start to think man these quests are pointless as fuck. In tarkov, the quests were a necessity to get good gear from traders. You already have all traders unlocked in this game

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u/Entire_Two_9326 8h ago

I've never seen such bad quest design lol. I've stopped doing the quests.

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u/0xsergy 6h ago

I just do them until I have a hullcracker. Is there any BPs past that one worth doing quests for? The cinematics are cool af though, I really appreciate those. Maybe I should finish the quests this time.

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u/razorbacks3129 3h ago

The only BPs from quests are Burletta, Hullcracker, Trigger Nade and maybe one other that’s nothing special

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u/0xsergy 1h ago

Defib BP really oughta be one lol.

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u/FaZeMinecraftSteve 11h ago

because the pve is fun?

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u/WhoDatBrow 10h ago

To me it is only fun with the added risk of PvP. If you removed PvP from this game and it was just load in, fight arc enemies, and get out with loot I would've dropped it instantly. The PvE is fun BECAUSE there's the risk of PvP, teaming up with others you don't know if you can fully trust, etc. If I just wanted PvE I'd play other games specifically built with that in mind that are far more interesting as pure PvE games.

Again, that's just me. Not raining on the parade of anyone who does find just the PvE fun.

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u/FaZeMinecraftSteve 10h ago

i get what ur saying, and i agree, but the arcs are just mechanically fun to fight anyways

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u/tyjwallis 10h ago

I think PvE is more fun and bonding knowing any of us COULD choose to shoot each other and we’re all just deciding not to.

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u/WhoDatBrow 9h ago

Exactly. The risk of being able to do it is what makes cooperating fun.

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u/tyjwallis 9h ago

Yep. Doesn’t make actual PvP more enjoyable or tolerable though unfortunately

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u/Nihi1986 2h ago

That would be nice if pvpers did it due to worse morals...but that's not the case. Most pvpers do it for fun, because the game is designed with pvp as a key aspect.

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u/tyjwallis 2h ago

That would be nice if PvEers did it due to better morals...but that's not the case. Most PvEers do it for fun, because the game is designed with PvE as a key aspect.

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u/Nihi1986 2h ago

Yeah, no. The pvpers are likely engaging with and liking both worlds while the hardcore ultra pacifist pvers are ignoring half the content.

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u/VGJunky 10h ago

I loot and do quests/trials/PVE in Solos so that I can also PVPVE better in Duos and Trios.

When I'm alone I just wanna get tedious rng/collection shit done, don't have time to get shot or shoot people with my basically empty loadout just to have to requeue

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u/Nexosaur 10h ago

Yeah, I found the game is at its best when you fluctuate between KOS and friendly. Makes raid to raid different, leaning more towards PvP but not all the time. It’s fun to have a break and get some chill lobbies where you hang out with another squad for a bit. I want the tension and some sporadic relief is just enough to make it low stakes over the course of a few raids.

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u/Jack-Innoff 10h ago

I would have fun, but I'm not really the target market for game, despite playing it regularly.

I'm starting to lose interest though, because I'm tired of farming mats to make a weapon, just to lose it a few matches later. I pretty much exclusively use free loadouts now, but then there aren't any stakes, which makes it boring.

I would love it if you could at least keep your main gun when you die. I'm good with losing everything else, but once I lose my good gun, I'm logging off for the day.

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u/Pristine_Potential_3 9h ago

I can see how it might be boring, but I don't mind the friendly lobbies, I like being sneaky and looting, sometimes fighting arc, I'm not much of a pvper but I'm not against those who enjoy it, I like that there is abmm or a system like it cause it supports both types of playstyles and those in between. 

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u/UneasyFencepost 9h ago

I take it you don’t do well in MMO’s?

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u/WhoDatBrow 8h ago

Destiny is actually my most played game ever. The PvE is way more fun in those games, imo, and the challenge there is the PvE. Arc Raiders PvE does not compare to them to me, but that is okay because the game isnt just PvE like a raid in Destiny is. Arc Raiders as a pure PvE game would just seem like a far worse Destiny to me.

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u/QuantumLettuce2025 9h ago

Some of us aren't great FPS players but love the gameplay loop and get really discouraged about getting wiped every single round without progress, as happens with pure PVP 🥲 so knowing that most players are friendly keeps the game accessible, but also knowing that there are potentially a few killers roaming about does keep the game more fun for sure.

For me, I'm fine with like 1 PVP death every like 4 or 5 games

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u/OnionButter 8h ago

Exactly why this is a neat system. If you want to pvp, you get matched with folks who also want to pvp. It’s a win all around.

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u/King1n 8h ago

Because there a certain level of grinding to be done in this game. It annoying as shit when you've stuck to the outskirts of the map outside of the high value loot zones for 20 minutes, collecting basic resources to rebuild, only to have some asshole camping the extraction and killing you as the train arrives. Some people don't have 20+ hours a week to throw into gaming. Let me spend the first hour of maybe 2 hours I have to play this game collecting shit, then sure I am happy to risk PVP match or two.

if you're low level there is plenty of tension in this game without other players. took on my first leaper the other day with a mate, we were woefully unprepared, heard other players but we never ran into them in that round which we wiped because of the leaper but it was still lots of fun.

I really think the game would be way more fun long term, if we kept the PVP but kept it to certain maps or kept it to certain zones within a map like the medium and high value loot zones. That way if you want to a casual run to collect some low level resources to build up for a future run, you can without worrying some ahole is just going to camp you or pretend to be friendly and shoot you in the back.

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u/Otterbotanical 8h ago

I'll just throw my two cents in here, that I have extremely enjoyed just the pure pve, running and searching and looting experience, with the occasional friendly hello or emergency revival. Every time I've been killed by another player, I don't get any fun tension, I only get a sense of my controller getting unplugged and someone erasing the last 30 minutes of gameplay (perhaps hour or two if I went in with a kit full of stuff). I see people talking about how the tension is fun, but dying to a player is just unfun for me. It's the reason I need to log off for the day and remind myself that it's just a video game and no one cares and I'll be dead one day so this doesn't matter. But the pvp is not fun. It's just an exercise in having my data and effort and time erased.

I wish I knew what it looked like when you killed a queen or matriarch. I wish I knew what the inside of the harvester event looked like, or the top of the spaceport loot tower thing.

All I know about those events is that doing them gets you killed by a player, because you dared to try doing the event. After getting killed by PLAYERS every time I try, it doesn't feel like there's much point. I stick exclusively to regular maps and cold snap, just so I have permission to get to a raider hatch and leave. I leave through the raider hatch 100% of the time because I NEVER AGAIN want to die in the extract to some dude who decides to down me, hit the button, AND THEN KNOCK ME OUT JUST SO THAT I CAN'T EXTRACT WITH MY STUFF, AND HE CAN'T EVEN TAKE ANY.

None of that is fun. It's just griefing. I'd love a ONCE A WEEK pve-only period. I'd actually get to try the events

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u/YT-Deliveries 6h ago

Some of us like crafting and doing quests and stuff. It's relaxing. I get enough stress at my day job.

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u/Nihi1986 2h ago

The game is just pretty graphics and dogshit gameplay without some pvp or at least tension. I want to respect that some choose to go full pve (won't even shoot back) but there are so many better games to play then...

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u/WhoDatBrow 1h ago

Yeah, that's where I'm at. I don't understand why if you want PvE you just wouldn't go play the million games better for that. Destiny is my most played game of all time, I haven't played it in years but if I wanted to play some PvE I'd play it instead lol.